is this too good to be true? also shipping questions

[Delta Heavy]

Hey all, I'm not a new guy to lasers, and I frequently lurk here, but I made an account today for a few questions.

I go camping often and love to take lasers with me because you can get true darkness and they look amazing. I have several, my highest powered one is a true 50mW. I have all green except the one 20mW 405nm one I have. I want a laser that can burn, and can burn quickly. I don't have a ton of spare money, but I was browsing rayfoss anyway and I saw this:

www.rayfoss.com

and this

www.rayfoss.com


this seems a bit crazy. I know they are in cheap casing, but 100mW for 12 dollars seems like its too good to be true. normally I would assume this, but rayfoss is a reliable company from what I understand and it doesnt make sen for them to be posting somthing on the site that is way underclocked.

And 23 for 200mw? I didnt even know you could get up to 200mw with that kind of laser pointer.

Is this too good to be true? If not I'm taking this and running.


Also, has anyone had any experience with shipping with these guys? I dont want to wait 10-18 days for it to come, and it doesnt have any price range for their UPS express options. Is it worth it and how much does it cost normally?


Thanks.

 

[ZRaffleticket]

The prices sound real however I'd be willing to bet those pens wouldn't last very long at all...

 

[Delta Heavy]

I bought a 50mW green and a 20mW violet from rayfoss almost a year and a half ago and they work fine with constant use.

That being said the black part has worn off and the bare metal is left, but aside from that they are fine.

I'll hopefully get a nicer laser, but I really want to try and get something a bit more powerful so I can experiment myself.


100mW with no focus lense will be able to burn correct?

 

[Livinloud]

100mW for $12 isnt too good to be true. search over sped ebay pens and you will see its actually common

 

[Delta Heavy]

What I dont understand is how come I spent like 30 bucks on a 20mw 405nm from them that looks exactly the same.

Also I cant find any actual 100mw pens on ebay, only diodes. and they cost 30+

 

[Livinloud]

exactly, the 5mW laser pens on ebay really 50-100mW pens. ebay doesnt allow anything over 5mW so people label everything under 5mW.

most 532nm lasers are mislabeled

 

[Delta Heavy]

What? i got a green one off ebay labeled "50mw" and it was probably closer to 10.

why would they sell a 100mw laser pointer as a 5mW and for the price of one? Doesnt make sense to me. why not just sell 5mW lasers?

If this is true, whats the most powerful (disregard build quality at this point) laser I can get for $15 online?

 

[Livinloud]

laser pens are crap shoots. it is very hard to make a true 5mW laser, this is why LG sells them for $50 a pop! its very easy to mass produce 532nm laser modules and pop them into pens. the manufacture doesnt care to test every single pen so they dont test any. the reason why they are labeled 5mW is since in many countries its illegal to own anything over 5mW.

they dont care about accurately labeling lasers.

BTW how do you know your 50mW laser is really only 10mW?
Also cheap lasers tend to have random life spans, some last forever, some die in two days. your 50mW could just be dying


EDIT: do some searching here for over spec ebay pens and you will learn a ton about these

 

[Delta Heavy]

hmm thats interesting.

because I have a 50mW from rayfoss that faona supposedly checked that is like 2x as bright as the 50mW from ebay. The ebay one has been like that since I got it.


Is it possible for me to build my own?

take for example a cheap diode like this:

Industrial Lab 3 0VDC 650nm Red Laser 90mW 100mW 110mW Dot Module Diode Lazer | eBay

and put it in a host?

is that rayfoss laser the most power I can get out of 15 bucks?

 

[Livinloud]

if you dont have a pair of safety glasses yet then id take those $15 and spend them on glasses.

also its $15, you wont get anything great with it so if you buy an ebay pen it might be 100mW, it might be 30mW or it could be 75mW. you dont have a LPM so you will never know the real power of it

 

[Delta Heavy]

I have a pair my friend gave me, the one who got me into the laser world. I'll double check with him and see if they are good enough.

Why would I buy an ebay laser when the rayfoss one is tested 100mw?

Also my friend has a lpm I believe but he lives pretty far from me now so I probably wont be able to check soon.

 

[Livinloud]

afaik rayfoss doesnt have a good rep here so thats why ive been avoiding suggesting them. if you want to trust them then go for it. also how do you know they are tested to 100mW, do you get a certification with it or just their "word"

 

[Leodahsan]

@Delta Heavy
The wavelength (color) of the laser makes it cheaper or more expensive, and the relative brightness haves an effect too. Green at lower powers will look very intense compared to a 405nm at higher powers. And green units use to cost more than red and violet at lower powers
Btw, beware with higher powers..

@Livinloud
I've bought from rayfoss, and the customer service was very good imho. They had problems with the expedited shipping to BR, but Faona did what she could and solved all problems. She sent my laser with the labels hidden under the box :beer:

A year ago it had a good rep. It don't have anymore?

 

[Livinloud]

yeah afaik their rep has been going down as of lately, or at least that is what ive got from recent posts. this is why i bought from lazerer for my first laser since they had the best rep out of anyone at the time (for cheaper lasers)

 

[AAlasers]

Yup they're probably real. I'll be willing to bet they'll be under-spec, and will probably last a while if you keep the duty cycle reasonable (<30sec on, 30 sec off). However, they use AAA batteries, which is a pain to keep using. They get quite expensive.

IMO, expect low quality and $h1t battery life, better buying a slightly more expensive model.